Dara Torres took the silver in the women’s 50-meter freestyle last night and brought with it questions of whether she could have possibly done it clean.

Do you believe?

The 41-year-old came to these Olympics knowing that doping questions would hover over her if she performed well. How can someone that age who gave birth two years ago swim that fast without chemical assistance?

People asked it in Sydney eight years ago when she was 33. Surrounded by swimmers in their late teens and early 20s Torres is an anomaly.

Last night she was beaten to the wall by Germany’s Britta Steffen by a hundredth of a second. Steffen finished with an Olympic-record time of 24.06 seconds, Torres just behind her at 24.07, a personal best. She also was part of the silver-medal winning 400-meter medley relay team.

Torres has tried to convince the world she’s clean by volunteering for “Project Believe,” a pilot program the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency began this year that subjects Torres and others to more frequent testing and also includes blood testing.

This is Torres’ second comeback. She returned to the pool in 1999 after seven years away and won five medals in Sydney. The Beijing Games are her record fifth Olympics, dating back to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She uses goggles older than most her opponents.

In this age of Marion Jones denials and steroid controversies in numerous Olympic sports, Torres likely will be considered guilty until proven innocent.